Romney campaigns in Toledo and Bexley

Wednesday

Feb 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMFeb 29, 2012 at 11:30 PM

And now comes Ohio. Mitt Romney wasted no time getting here after a nail-biting three-point victory in Michigan, his home court, campaigning this morning in Toledo before addressing 350 at Capital University in Bexley.

And now comes Ohio.

Mitt Romney wasted no time getting here after a nail-biting three-point victory in Michigan, his home court, campaigning this morning in Toledo before addressing 350 at Capital University in Bexley.

In a 50-minute speech, including a lengthy question and answer session with the audience in Capital’s Harry C. Moores Campus Center, Romney uncharacteristically revealed a piece of his heart, but mostly focused on the topic that is bread-and-butter for Buckeyes — jobs.

“We’ve got to put jobs first,” Romney said, gloating over exit polls from Michigan showing: “ Those people who care about the economy and jobs voted for me.”

After spending the better part of two weeks in Michigan on the attack against Rick Santorum to whittle away the former Pennsylvania senator’s poll lead, Romney kept his powder dry in Ohio, where Santorum holds leads of 11 and seven points, according to two recent polls.

Only once did Romney refer to Santorum as a Washington-insider lacking the experience to lead an economic resurgence: “Rick Santorum is a nice guy, but he’s an economic lightweight,” Romney told the Capital audience.

On the state’s television airwaves, meanwhile, a thundercloud of negative attack-ads is forming, ready to rain on Ohio in the six days leading to March 6. The Associated Press reported that Romney and Restore Our Future, the super PAC that supports him, have spent more than $3 million combined on ads in Ohio. Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia — and super PACs supporting them — also are expected to plunk down cash for major ad buys.

“We’re coming off a very good day,” Romney said in Bexley, referring to his wins in Michigan and Arizona, where he claimed all of the state’s 29 delegates. Because most of Michigan’s 30 delegates were awarded based on the winner in each of the state’s 14 Congressional districts, Romney and Santorum nearly split delegates there.

A statewide loss for Romney in Michigan where he won in 2008 and where his father was a popular governor might’ve derailed his bid for the GOP nomination. His two-state triumph put him back on course and set the stage for another tango with Santorum in Ohio, considered the prize among Super Tuesday’s 10 states.

“The race goes on,” said Doug McMarlin, a national Republican operative based in Columbus. “ For the first time in really a generation, we’ve got a real race on our hands for the nomination of the party.”

That race is about to unfold with a flourish in Ohio, with Romney, Santorum and Gingrich planning to hit multiple events across the state this weekend.

Paul Beck, an Ohio State University political scientist, said the outcome in Michigan had major implications for the candidates in Ohio because the two states are so economically and demographically alike. A loss in Michigan would have denied Romney the momentum he needed to stem Santorum’s rapid rise in Ohio.

Beck said Santorum squandered his Michigan lead — and the opportunity to wear away Romney’s thinning veneer of inevitability as the nominee — by dipping deeply into social issues rather than focusing on the economy. Over the last week, Santorum became enmeshed in debates about birth control, he derided John F. Kennedy’s famous speech advocating for separation of church and state, and he called President Barack Obama a “snob” for promoting college education.

“Santorum has boxed himself in,” Beck said. “He’s become too extreme. He said things he never had to say.”

Sensing as much, Romney spent the day in Ohio talking about the economy, telling the Capital crowd: “The reason I won yesterday in Arizona and Michigan is I’m talking about the issue people care the most about.”

Earlier, Romney held a rally in a Toledo warehouse factory where metal fence posts are made, attempting to show his own appeal toward manufacturers. He contrasted himself with Obama on the economy, which most economists say is improving nationally and in Ohio.

“Hopefully you’re seeing signs of improvement, not because of (Obama) but in spite of him,” Romney said. “Every single policy he’s put in place made it harder for businesses to grow.”

Often portrayed as wooden, Romney connected poignantly with the Capital University audience in response to a question from Gregory Davis, 52, of suburban Cincinnati. Davis, who later said he was a Romney supporter, told Romney that the media portray “that you don’t have a heart,” asking him to show “that you have a lot of heart and that you love Americans.”

Referring to his wife, Ann, as “by far the most important thing in my life,” Romney described their anguish in 1998 after learning she had multiple sclerosis, facing “questions about what her life span would be given that disease.” Ann has largely recovered. Romney also talked about his love for his five sons, saying he “thought my heart couldn’t get bigger,” until his 16 grandchildren came along.

He also brought up his Mormonism, discussing the 10 years he spent as an unpaid minister in the church, counseling members and learning, among other things, that unemployment “is certainly not just a statistic, it’s traumatic.”

Romney continued: “My affection for America is my affection for the American people and it’s because I’ve come to know people on a very personal basis.”

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